This application claims the benefit of French Patent Application No, 01 06 922, Filed May 28, 2001
The subject of this invention is a safety manual vegetable cutter for domestic and professional use.
There are currently different types of manual vegetable cutters on the market, none of them very practical and all of them exposing their users to serious risks of cuts.
At the same time, there are also numerous electric vegetable slicers or food processors for household use or designed for use in industry or collectives, these being multi-purpose machines. However, they are generally-sophisticated appliances which, apart from their high cost, often have the disadvantage of being inconvenient to use and also difficult to assemble and clean.
So far, users have never been offered simple, practical and inexpensive manual vegetable cutters, allowing the cutting characteristics to be varied selectively and also not exposing the user to risks of serious cuts.
The invention is intended to fill this gap.
To achieve this, the invention proposes a safety manual vegetable cutter, in broad terms substantially metal, characterised in that it comprises a frame fitted with at least one cutting blade mounted transversely facing a slot through which the cut vegetables pass and also two side rails providing guidance in to and fro translational motion for a guide chamber equipped with a loading volume for the vegetables to be cut up and
Given this configuration, the to-and-fro motion of the guide chamber along the frame enables vegetables inserted into the loading volume to be cut into slices automatically.
Of course, in connection with the invention, the term xe2x80x9cvegetablesxe2x80x9d must be considered in a very broad sense, and the vegetables cut up may be not only vegetables of all kinds in the strict sense (potatoes, cucumbers, carrots etc.) but also fruits or other foodstuffs suitable for slicing.
According to a preferred characteristic of the invention, the press-down cap has a hollow ergonomic body fitting over the guide chamber so as to form a carriage assembly integral in translation with the frame and also an extractor consisting of an extractor rod capable of translational motion on the inside of the ergonomic press-down cap body, and having a first end extending beyond this press-down cap body through a guide opening made in it, and also by a plate transmitting feed pressure preferably fitted with spikes on its outer face.
According to the invention, this feed plate is secured to the second end of the extractor rod to allow the vegetables for slicing to be pressed against the cutting blade or blades fitted to the frame when the carriage is moved.
When the ergonomic press-down cap body is fitted over the guide chamber, it is able to slide on it.
The cross-section of the extractor rod and also the guide opening are preferably not free to rotate and are dimensioned so as to prevent rotation of the extractor relative to the ergonomic press-down cap body.
According to the invention, the first outward-projecting end of the extractor rod is fitted with a removable plug with a diameter larger than the diameter of the guide opening so as to allow the extractor to remain constantly integral with the ergonomic press-down cap body.
According to another preferred characteristic of the invention, the press-down cap has a spring fitted around the extractor rod with one of its ends or first end bearing against the ergonomic press-down cap body on the inside of the latter and also its opposite end or second end bearing against the feed pressure plate.
This spring tends to press the feed plate against the frame in the absence of any external force being applied to it.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the ergonomic press-down cap body is equipped with needles attached to the inside of it and intended to be pushed into the vegetables to be cut up, so as to prevent them rolling in the guide chamber.
After the ergonomic press-down cap body is fitted onto the guide chamber, the extractor comes to bear against the vegetables which have previously been put into the loading volume.
When the user then applies pressure to the ergonomic press-down cap body, the latter slides along the guide chamber and moves nearer to the frame.
In the course of this movement, the extractor rod rises progressively outwards, compressing the spring, and the needles are pressed into the vegetables.
This movement continues until the spring is compressed completely.
The length of the extractor rod which then projects beyond the ergonomic press-down cap body through the guide opening indicates to the user the quantity of vegetables present in the loading volume of the guide chamber.
From this position, the user can cut up the vegetables by manoeuvring the ergonomic press-down cap body so as to move it to and fro along the frame, so that the level of vegetables is constantly lowered.
In fact, the spring constantly applies pressure to the extractor which forces the vegetables towards the cutting blade or blades fitted to the frame so that they can be sliced.
As the slicing proceeds, the needles are released from the vegetables.
According to the invention, the vegetable cutter is dimensioned so that when the cutting is finished, the ergonomic press-down cap body is resting against the guide chamber and the extractor cannot move down to the level of the cutting blades because the length of the extractor rod is chosen such that the plug causes its translational motion to be halted.
It should be noted that the assembly thus constituted can be completely dismantled by means of the plug which, when removed, allows the extractor to be taken out of the press-down cap by releasing the spring so that the user can thus clean the unit thoroughly.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the frame has two parallel side uprights connected by a transverse operating handle and forming the guide rails of the carriage.
According to a preferred characteristic of the invention, the vegetable cutter comprises means for adjusting the depth of cut and therefore the thickness of the slices cut.
These means advantageously include a ramp, capable of translational motion, fitted parallel to the cutting plane and facing the cutting blade or blades at one of its ends or first end to form the slot through which the sliced vegetables pass.
It is also advantageous in accordance with the invention to provide means for keeping the first end of the cutting depth adjustment ramp at a constant short distance from the cutting blade or blades.
According to the invention, when the vegetable cutter is operated, the cutting depth adjustment ramp is of course locked with respect to the side uprights of the frame and the user holds the ergonomic press-down cap body with one hand to move the carriage assembly to and fro along the frame while exerting pressure on the press-down cap body, and also holds the transverse operating handle of the frame with the other hand to steady the appliance.
According to the invention, the cutting depth adjustment ramp may advantageously be constituted by a central plate acting in conjunction with the transverse blade or blades and, by means of side flanges, locating it between the side uprights of the frame.
To achieve this, the uprights may be fitted on their inner faces with studs engaging in oblong holes in the side flanges of the ramp.
These studs and oblong holes may also act in conjunction with identical oblong holes made in the side uprights of the frame with locking components integral with the ramp passing through them.
When they are loosened and not providing locking to prevent movement, these locking components also act as guide studs so as to allow translational motion of the cutting depth adjustment ramp with respect to the side uprights of the frame.
The holes provided in the flanges of the cutting depth adjustment ramp and also in the side uprights of the frame are preferably inclined obliquely so that the translational motion takes place in both directions, up and down and backwards and forwards.
It is thus possible to keep the cutting depth adjustment ramp constantly parallel to itself and consequently to adjust the depth of cut while ensuring that the first end of the ramp remains at a constant and very short distance from the cutting blade or blades.
Such a configuration means that the cut can be optimised both because of the short distance between the ramp and blade(s) as they pass each other, which ensures optimum regularity and accuracy, and also because there is no variation in height during translational motion of the vegetables towards the cutting blade or blades; this arrangement avoids any phenomenon of thinning at the end of the cut such as might be observed if the cutting depth adjustment ramp, instead of being made to move in translation parallel to the cutting plane, was able to move in rotation about an axis integral with the frame at its second end opposite the first end located facing the cutting blade or blades.
According to the invention, cutting depth adjustment can advantageously be achieved by operating a hand grip provided for the purpose at the rear of the ramp.
The distance between the transverse operating handle and the hand grip is preferably arranged to allow movement of the fingers so that the user can push ox pull the cutting depth adjustment ramp with the hand which is holding the transverse operating handle.
All that needs to be done then is to lock the adjustment using the locking components.
It should be noted that the side uprights of the frame can advantageously be equipped with markings to show this adjustment and therefore to indicate to the user the thickness of the slices cut.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the guide chamber is made integral with the frame by means of slides preferably of a man-made material, particularly polycarbonate.
The function of these slides is to exclude any risk of seizure resulting from metal to metal friction and therefore to allow the guide chamber to slide easily, smoothly and silently along the frame.
Fitting the guide chamber so that it is integral with the frame represents a particularly advantageous characteristic of the invention since it eliminates any danger of the guide chamber accidentally coming off its guide rails during use, and consequently causing injury to the user.
According to the invention, the loading volume of the guide chamber may advantageously be cylindrical in shape and of relatively large size (particularly a diameter of the order of 50 to 150 mm for a height of the order of 10 to 80 mm) to allow professional use.
Of course, a loading volume of the guide chamber of the kind described acts in conjunction with an ergonomic press-down cap body which is also substantially cylindrical inside and a feed plate forming a press-down device constituted by a disc.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the vegetable cutter rests on at least one foot, preferably folding.
The frame can advantageously be mounted on two folding trapezoidal feet, namely a front foot and a rear foot, substantially U-shaped.
The front foot raises the front of the frame, that is to say the end opposite the transverse operating handle to allow a dish to be slid under it and filled up; a substantially larger volume of vegetables can thus be sliced.
The rear foot allows the vegetable cutter to be used over a container such as a basin, using it as a support; the support thus obtained is stable and consequently makes for safe use of the vegetable cutter. Resting the vegetable cutter on the front foot and on the rear foot enables a convenient working angle to be obtained.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the vegetable cutter comprises at least two removable and interchangeable transverse blades capable of being selectively positioned and snapped into place in the frame.
One of these blades is preferably equipped with a straight cutting edge while the other is equipped with a corrugated cutting edge, with various possible shapes.
The blades having a straight cutting edge and the blades having a corrugated cutting edge can be selectively fitted in the cutting position facing the slot through which the cut vegetables pass, depending on whether smooth slices or ridged slices are required.
According to the invention, the transverse blades are composed of a body of a man-made or metal material in which the cutting portion is inserted.
The body of each transverse blade may advantageously include a mark which the user will also find on the frame when fitting the blades so as to ensure that they are inserted in the right direction and on the right side of the cutting portions.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the vegetable cutter comprises at least one removable lengthwise cutter blade fitted with a set of equidistant blades aligned substantially at right angles to the transverse blades so that the vegetables can be cut into sticks.
The vegetable cutter may advantageously be equipped with a series of such cutting knives where the blades are a greater or smaller distance apart so that larger or smaller sticks can be obtained.
According to the invention, the cutter blade is preferably snapped into place in the frame between the side uprights of the frame, in particular by means of projections and corresponding recesses.
It is particularly advantageous for these projections and these recesses to be asymmetrical to ensure that the blade is always fitted the right way round. The ergonomic shape of the press-down cap body provides a good grip for installing it without risk of injury.
It is also advantageous to equip the vegetable cutter with a bar for locking the cutting blade after it is fitted into the frame.